Automobiles are often equipped with expensive radios and magnetic tape players. These electronic items are typically included in a single assembly mounted to the dashboard of the car. Because of their usefulness and resale value these stereo radio tape players are popular items for theft. In a typical situation, a thief will spot the radio through the car window. If it is one he wants, he proceeds to break into the car and forcibly remove the radio assembly from the dashboard. The car owner thus suffers not only the loss of the electronic equipment but also the expense of the damage to the car.
In the past, various covers have been proposed for the purpose of concealing a normally visible radio assembly in an automobile. U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,162 to Neece for instance, discloses a simple cover plate for a car radio that is fastened to the control knobs of the radio.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,280 to Crosetti discloses a panel that is fastened to the cassette opening of the tape player of a radio to disguise the equipment as an inexpensive AM radio.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,717 to Strickland discloses a closure for a radio assembly that also attaches to the cassette opening of the tape player to enclose the radio and tape player assembly.
There are various problems associated with these prior art anti theft devices for automotive tape players. In general they must be sized for a particular tape player and are not universally adaptable to different sized tape players. Additionally, they may not be adaptable for use with tape players having irregular configurations such as occurs with the tape cartridge opening of the tape player being offset from the controls of the tape player or with dashboards having sloped or angled surfaces. Moreover, a tape player disguised as a radio may still appear as an attractive item for a thief and should be avoided.
The present invention is directed to a simple, yet unobvious protective cover for automotive tape players that overcomes these prior art limitations. In particular, the protective cover of the invention is adapted to securely attach to a variety of tape players having different sizes and configurations and to a variety of sloped or angled dashboards. Additionally, the protective cover of the invention can be modified with decals to resemble components on the dashboard other than a radio. Moreover, the protective cover completely encloses the visible portion of the tape player and functions to shield the tape player from dirt and sunlight.